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Italy's Fascist Bureaucracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

Taylor Cole
Taylor Cole
Affiliation:
Duke University
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Extract

Neglected by foreign critics of the Fascist régime and taken for granted by the Italian people, the bureaucracy of Italy has been eclipsed by more spectacular institutions. This “core of modern government” has been concealed by a black-shirted periphery embossed with some corporative theories. From this center, some studies of more than the mere structural features of Fascist Italy might well begin. In any case, the “peculiar Anglo-Saxon pastime of making foreign personnel studies,” as an Italian civil servant recently observed, will admit of a consideration of certain of the functional elements of the Italian bureaucracy—the hierarchical and career aspects.

Type
Foreign Governments and Politics
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 32 , Issue 6 , December 1938 , pp. 1143 - 1157
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1938

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References

1 Friedrich, C. J., Constitutional Government and Politics (New York, 1937), pp. 20–40Google Scholar.

2 For a discussion of the administrative organization of the Italian states prior to unification, see Schupfer, Carlo, “Organizzazione amministrativa degli Stati avanti 1'unificazione legislativa,” in Orlando, V. E. (ed.), Diritto amministrativo Italiano (Milano, 1900), I, p. 1091 ff.Google Scholar

3 Ibid., pp. 1126–1127. The powers conferred, November 13, 1859, upon the ministers over the “appointment, removal, punishment, and retirement of civil servants” were particularly important.

4 Presutti, E., Istituzioni di diritto amministrativo Italiano (3rd ed., Milano, 1934), II, p. 4 ff.Google Scholar

5 Dupriez, L., Les Ministres dans les principaux pays de l'Europe (Paris, 1892), I, p. 337Google Scholar.

6 Rosmini, Cesare, “Impiegati civili dello Stato,” in Enciclopedia giuridica Italiana (1902), VIII, Pt. I, p. 215Google Scholar. A comparison of the projects of a lawfor state employees may be found in ibid., p. 218 ff.

7 Due to reductions possible through the avoidance of duplications in the customs and central administrative services which offset increases, the kingdom of Italy had, in 1883, approximately the same number of civil employees as had the Italian states in 1859–76,634 as compared with 76,070. Benini, Rodolfo, “La burocrazia di Stato in Italia dal 1859 al 1891,” La riforma sociale, IV (1895), p. 241 ff., 258Google Scholar. In 1891, there were fewer employees of every category per 1,000,000 inhabitants than in 1859. After 1882, there was a growth, however, which gained momentum almost annually. Nicolai, N. R., Burocrazia e funzionarismo (Roma, 1913), p. 97 ff.Google Scholar The purchase of the railways by the state did not take place until 1905.

8 The complaints of the civil servants were directed against inadequate salaries, parliamentary favoritism, disciplinary abuses, inadequacy of judicial recourse, etc. Rosmini, loc. cit., pp. 195–198. Almost every ill was attributed by the public, at one time or another, to the “bureaucracy,” from inadequate to unnecessary service and from despotism to ordinary acute scrivomania. Manfrin, P., Tirannia buro cratica (Roma, 1900), p. 15 ff.Google Scholar The Italian indebtedness to critical French writings, and especially to Le Play, M. F., La réforme sociale (Paris, 1864), II, Ch. 63Google Scholar, was a heavy one.

8a The numbers of the various laws and decrees only are given, the Lex citations being omitted throughout this paper.

9 Le organizzazioni d'impiegati (Roma, 1910), p. 12Google Scholar. A complete description of each of the organizations down to 1910 is included in ibid., pp. 17–195. The ideological background is discussed in Schneider, H. W., Making the Fascist State (New York, 1928), Ch. 4.Google Scholar

10 Le organizzazioni d'impiegali, p. 10.

11 Nicolai, op. cit., p. 158.

12 Industrial and Labour Information (1923), V, pp. 89, 479Google Scholar. On the Italian Labor Alliance, with its public servant affiliates, and the general strike of 1922, see Viana, Mario, Sindicalismo (Bari, 1923), pp. 106–108Google Scholar.

13 Lolini, Ettore, La riforma della burocrazia (Firenze, 1919), p. 93Google Scholar.

14 Finer, H., Mussolini's Italy (New York, 1935), Ch. 3Google Scholar.

15 Direzioni generali autonome, aziende separate, enti pubblici, and enti parastatali, respectively. For these distinctions, consult Presutti, op. cit., II, pp. 51–53.

16 The differentiations, especially between the various types of decrees, are drawn clearly in Vitta, Cino, Diritto amministrativo (Torino, 1933–1935), I, p. 24 ff.Google Scholar

17 Cf., however, Ranelletti, O., Istituzioni di diritto pubblico (5th ed., Padova, 1935), pp. 493–506Google Scholar.

18 Ordinamento gerarchio delle amministrazioni dello Stato, supplemento alla G. U., Nov. 17, 1923, No. 270, 3. The report of the Villa Commission of 1919 is contained in Relazione e proposte, Commissione per lo studio delta riforma dell'amministrazione dello Stato (Roma, 1919)Google Scholar. Parts I (expecially pp. 11–16) and III are worth reading. The report of the parliamentary commission created in 1921 may be found in Relazione della Commissione Parlamentare d'inchiesta sull'ordinamento delle amministrazioni dello Stato e sulle condizioni del personale (Roma, 1921)Google Scholar.

19 This decree was issued on the basis of the legislative delegation of general powers on December 3, 1922 (No. 1601), over the “reorganization of public offices and institutions,” etc. Vitta, op. cit., II, p. 421.

20 Ordinamento gerarchio, op. cit., p. 2. Judges, teachers, and employees of the state monopolies, the state railways and posts and telegraphs, were not affected by the provisions of this decree, but have been dealt with separately.

21 In the Ministry of Finance, for example, the solicitor-general, the director of the mint, and chiefs of sections and technical experts are listed in Group A, while comptrollers, warehouse managers, engravers, and provincial inspectors are in Group B. Ibid., pp. 33–127.

22 This decree repealed all but two articles of the Testo Unico of November 22, 1908 (No. 693). Cf. D'Alessio, F., Istitmioni di diritta amministrativo (Torino, 1932–1934), I, p. 423Google Scholar. Its most important provisions have been translated in White, L. D. (ed.), Civil Service in the Modern State (Chicago, 1930), pp. 318–339Google Scholar.

23 The provisions of this “code” must now be considered as “normative,” in view of article 1 of the law of January 31, 1926 (No. 100), which vested in the governo the power of issuing regulations having the force of law affecting “the organization and functioning of the state administrations and of their personnel.” See Presutti, op. cit., II, p. 6.

24 Annuario statistico Italiano, 1919–1921, Series II, Vol. VIII, pp. 358, 474Google Scholar. The usual difficulties of securing accurate figures on public employment, because of problems of inclusion and exclusion, are considerably aggravated in Italy by the inadequacy of early statistics and by the variations in entries in the different series which have appeared. Members of the party hierarchy have not been included, though they may be legally classed as “public officers.” Steiner, H. A., “The Constitutional Position of the Partito Nazionale Fasdsta,” in this Review, Vol. 31, pp. 239–240 (Apr., 1937)Google Scholar. On the tenuous legal distinctions between “civil servants” (impiegati), “employees” (salariati), and “workers” (operai), see Ranelletti, O., Le guarantigie della giustizia nella pubblica amministrazione (5th ed., Milano, 1930), pp. 552–553Google Scholar; Montefusco, G., Il manuale del pubblico impiegato (Milano, 1934), pp. 14–15Google Scholar. Use of the terms “civil servants,” “employees,” and “officials” in this paper is without necessary reference to the Italian legal differentiations.

25 Annuario statistico Ilaliano, 1937, Series IV, Vol. IV, p. 214Google Scholar; Barberi, Benedetto, La dinamica del trattamento economico dei dipendenti dello Stato nel periodo 1913–1931 (Roma, 1935), p. 97 ff.Google Scholar

26 From a maximum of 234,637 full- and part-time railway employees in 1921–22, representing a sharp increase over the 151,123 of 1918, there was a rapid decline to 171,716 in 1924. Amminislrazione delle Ferrovie dello Stato, Belazione per Vanno finamiario, 1935–36, p. 34. See also Annuario statistico Italiano, 1922–25, Series II, Vol. IX, pp. 366–367Google Scholar.

27 Sharp, W. R., “Public Employment,” in Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, XII, pp. 628–629Google Scholar.

28 Moccia, G., Manuale dell'aspirante ad impiego nelle pubbliche amministrazioni (Roma, 1935), p. 17 ff.Google Scholar

29 For a detailed discussion, see Arnoldi, Martino, Il concorso ai pubblici impieghi (Brescia, 1935), pp. 47–52Google Scholar. On the American equivalents of these educational prerequisites, see note 2 in White, op. cit., p. 303.

30 No study has been made of the classes and social groups from which the higher civil servants in Italy have come. However, one strongly questions the contention that “most of the high bureaucracy in the Ministry of Corporations originated outside the government service.” Lasswell, Harold D. and Sereno, Renzo, “Governmental and Party Leaders in Fascist Italy,” in this Review, Vol. 31, at p. 921 (Oct., 1937)Google Scholar. Not one of the 30 directors-general, inspectors-general, and chiefs of division on the Group A rolls entered the service after 1916. Ministero delle Corporazioni, Ruoli di amiantia del personate (Roma, 1937), pp. 7–8, 39Google Scholar.

31 The boards usually include both academic and official members. A typical examining board for the foreign service includes a retired ambassador, two career men, and two university professors. A royal decree of March 23, 1933 (No. 185), regulates the composition of the examining boards for posts in the Ministry of Finance.

32 Caioli, E. and de Renzis, T., Manuale per la preparazione agli esami di concorso a posti alunno d'ordine nelle ferrovie dello Stato (Roma, 1935)Google Scholar.

33 Zanzucchi, Marco Tullio, Legislazione scolastica (3rd ed., Milano, 1936), p. 111Google Scholar.

34 G. U., Dec. 5, 1936, No. 282.

35 Officials in the personnel office of the Ministry of Corporations list the subjects in the order given for impiegati on their Group A rolls. This correlation between the universities and the public services helps to explain the heavy concentration in these fields of study in the universities. Annuario statistico Italiano, 1937, op. cit., p. 274.

36 Numeroso, Raffaele, Psicotecnica e ufficio del personale nelle pubbliche amministrazioni (Napoli, 1935), p. 22 ff.Google Scholar

37 Note the Relazione of the Committee reprinted in Montefusco, G., Il codice del pubblico impiegato (Roma, 1935), p. 37Google Scholar.

38 Most of these were subordinate consular officials. In August, 1937, six ambassadors, four ministers, and a few consuls-general were non-career men.

39 Arts. 19–45 of the decree of December 30,1923, in White, op. cit., pp. 323–329.

40 The efficiency records range from the highly detailed one of the Ministry of Public Works to the briefer and more general one of the Ministry of Corporations. The former, in addition to general questions, consists of 23 headings, including (1) morality, (2) work, diligence, and activity, (3) attitude toward the functions of the higher grade, (4) disciplinary punishments, and (5) final classification. The latter includes a heading on “private conduct” and “national feeling and devotion to the state.” The ratings under each heading are invariably in general (never numerical) terms, such as “excellent, good, mediocre, and bad,” and serve only as a general explanation for the final rating. Completed records are not open for inspection. In the foreign service, the head of a consulate or embassy submits annually a report on the wife of each foreign service officer, which may affect his rating. On the promotional procedure in Posts and Telegraphs, consult De Rossi, , Ordinamento organico dell'amministrazione delle Poste e dei Telegrafi (Roma, 1931), pp. 40–41Google Scholar.

41 Recent statistical information on promotions may be found in Bolietino ufficiale, Minislero delle Corporarioni, May, 1936, pp. 85–92Google Scholar; Direzione Generale delle Poste e dei Telegrafi, Relazione, 1934–1935, pp. 1–7; Amministrazione delle Ferrovie dello Stato, Relazione, 1935–1936, p. 37.

42 The Council of Ministers acts as the disciplinary commission for employees above Group V. Art. 56 of the decree of December 30, 1923, in White, op. cit., p. 332.

43 For employees of the state railways, where somewhat different rules apply, there were in 1935–36 only 119 appeals to the Minister of Communications, of which 98 were dismissed. Relazione, 1935–1936, p. 38.

44 Of 3,167 employees who left the railway service in 1935–36 for any cause, only 56 represented revocations or dismissals on all grounds. Idem.

45 Montefusco, op. cit., p. 40.

46 The information in this paragraph is based upon answers to questionnaires received from officials in the personnel offices of the ministries of Interior, Finance, Corporations, Public Works, National Education, Italian Africa, and Popular Culture, and upon personal interviews.

47 In July, 1937, there were still two directors-general and 10 or 12 foreign service officers reported as on “loan” from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The internal organization of the Ministry of Popular Culture is discussed in some detail in Cole, T., “The Italian Ministry of Popular Culture,” Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 2, pp. 425–434 (July, 1938)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

48 These activities have received growing attention during the past decade. Ciano, Costanzo, Le communicazioni nel primo dicenniofasdsta (Verona, 1933), p. 48Google Scholar.

49 Montefusco, op. cit., p. 41.

50 Moccia, G., Il trattamento economico del personale statale (2nd. ed., Roma, 1936), p. 179 ff.Google Scholar

51 Ibid., p. 191 ff.

52 The lira quotation of .0526 has been used.

53 G. U., July 10, 1937, No. 1033. There were corresponding increases for employees of the railway and postal and telegraphic services.

54 G. Moccia, Il trattamento economico, op. cit., p. 35 ff.

55 Aldo Lusignoli, in White, op. cit., pp. 311–312.

56 However, some consideration was again given to the cost of living index by the decree of April 14, 1934 (No. 561).

57 G. Moccia, Il trattamento economico, op. cit., p. 152.

58 Moccia, G., La cessione degli stipendi del personale dello Stato degli enti locali e parastatali (Roma, 1931), pp. 11–22Google Scholar.

59 Dopolavoro, Freizeit-Gestaltung in Italien (Roma, 1936), pp. 17–18Google Scholar. The Dopolavoro of the railway employees has been particularly active in furnishing travel, library, music, sport, and school facilities for its members.

60 “In 1835 the right to a pension was accorded employees in the Sardinian States in cases of permanent disability, 45 years of service, or attainment of the age of 72.” Schupfer, loc. cit., p. 1096.

61 Moccia, G., Il trattamento di pensione del personale statale (Roma, 1933), pp. 11–12Google Scholar.

62 Moccia, G., Il trattamento economico, p. 147Google Scholar.

63 G. Moccia, Il trattamento di pensione, op cit., p. 54. Note the method of computation where the pensions are “liquidated” (ibid., pp. 153–165). For the most recent changes in the pension provisions, see Arts. 9 and 10 of the royal decree law in G. U., July 10, 1937 (No. 1033).

64 In the aggregate, the total number of civil pensioners in Italy bulks large. On June 30, 1936, there were 98,583 on the pension rolls of the “central administrative services.” This figure includes men, women, and children who were eligible, but takes no account of the 13,514 pensions “liquidated” in 1935–36. Annuario statistico Italiano, 1937, op. cit., p. 215. On the pension rolls of the Railway Administration during the same period, there were 100,193. Amministrazione delle Ferrovie dello Stato, Relazione, 1935–1936, pp. 41–42. The relative contributions of the personnel, the Treasury, and the Railway Administration to the railway pension fund are listed in idem. A more detailed summary of retirement and pension legislation in Italy, with comparisons, is included in “Public Service Retirement Systems,” Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin No. 447 (Washington, 1929), pp. 11–15, 210–212Google Scholar.

65 G. Moccia, Il trattamento economico, op. cit., p. 147. The deductions on the supplements are not as heavy (ibid., p. 150).

66 Quoted from Salvemini, G., Under the Axe of Fascism (NewYork, 1936), p. 344Google Scholar. A large part of these lower paid employees, outside of the subaltern personnel, is engaged in clerical, manipulative, and custodial work. The lira quotation of .0851 has been used.

67 Annuario stalistico Italiano, 1937, op. cit., p. 159. The base is 100 on June 1, 1928. Cf. Salvemini, op. cit., pp. 231–237.

68 Vitta, Cino, Il potere disciplinare sugli impiegati pubblici (Milano, 1913), pp. 614–515Google Scholar.

69 Testo Unico of June 26, 1924, No. 1054, Art. 29, in Testo Unico delle leggi sul Consiglio di Stato (Roma, 1936), pp. 14–15Google Scholar. Cf. Bozzi, Carlo, “La competenza esclusiva del Consiglio di Stato e il rapporto di pubblico impiego,” in Il Consiglio di Stato, Studi in occasione del centenario (Roma, 1932), III, pp. 127–214Google Scholar. The Council of State consists of a president, 5 presidents of sections, and SO councilors, as well as secretaries and referendari. The presidents and councilors are appointed by royal decree upon nomination of the Minister of Interior, following deliberation of the Council of Ministers. Testo Unico of June 26, 1924, Art. 1, loc. cit., p. 6. The cases involving public employees come before Sections IV and/or V, which constitute the Council of State in “Jurisdictional Session.” Ranelletti, Le guarentigie, op. cit., pp. 400–404. On the jurisdiction of the provincial councils over employees of “local governmental corporations,” see Testo Unico of June 26, 1924, No. 1058, Art. 4, in Testo Unico delle leggi sul Consiglio di Stato, op. cit., pp. 37–38.

70 Ranelletti, Le guarentigie, op. cit., 425. The “legitimacy” of an administrative act may be questioned on the three grounds of “incompetency,” “excess of power,” and “violation of the law.” Ibid., pp. 82–83, 95 ff., 122 ff., 422, 438.

71 Il Consiglio di Stato nel quinquennio, 1931–1935 (Roma, 1937), p. 721Google Scholar. However, some of the laws recognize specifically the right of certain groups of employees to appeal to the Council of State in jurisdictional session in cases of dismissal for reasons of political incompatibility. Idem. On the questions raised in cases from 1931–35, consult ibid., pp. 640–693.

72 In 1935, there were only 38 appeals of “employees of the state” on questions of promotion, suspension, dismissal, retirement, seniority, efficiency ratings, transfers, etc. Of these, 8 were accepted in full and 4 in part for hearings by the Council of State. From the employees of the state railways there were, during the same year, only 9 appeals, of which 6 were rejected (ibid., pp. 966–967). Comparative statistics for the years 1931–35 are included in ibid., p. 916.

73 For controversial discussions on this point, cf. Presutti, op. cit., III, pp. 225–226, and Casalin, Antonio, Il codice della giustizia amministrativa (Venezia, 1937), pp. 144–145Google Scholar.

74 Note Art. 11 of the former and Arts. 92–93 of the latter. Cf. Costamagna, Carlo, Manuale di diritto corporativo Italiano (Torino, 1927), pp. 122–124Google Scholar. Severe restrictions had previously been placed upon the right of association by the Associations Law of Nov. 26, 1925, No. 2029, Art. 2.

75 The first to be recognized was the Fascist Association of Railway Employees on Aug. 23, 1926. G. U., Aug., 1926, No. 196.

76 Information furnished the writer by officials in the office of the Fiduciario of the Fascist Association of Public Employees.

77 Il Partilo Nazionale Fascista (Roma, 1936), pp. 86–87Google Scholar.

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